The Turtle in the Jar

"Blue Tier and Azure Tier Assassins from the Building of No Benevolence?" Shi Xiaoxiu blurted out, her voice trembling at the end. Shock was written all over her face.

She wasn't the only one. Shi Xiaodang, Steward Zhou, and the Outer Scenery elder reacted the same way. Ling Yue held his bamboo staff across his chest, his tiger eyes sweeping the surroundings. He showed no fear, but his extreme vigilance spoke volumes.

Rumor had it that the Building of No Benevolence's headquarters was in Northern Zhou, where high-tier assassins were far more active than in Great Jin. Ling Yue, Shi Xiaoxiu, and the others knew the various assassin ranks inside and out. The more they knew, the more wary they were of the Building of No Benevolence, and the less they dared provoke it.

More than nine out of ten assassinations succeeded. If a mission failed three times, the assassins abandoned it and returned the payment. They normally took no revenge. Their headquarters was elusive and impossible to trace... Every detail they knew about the Building of No Benevolence came rushing back, painting a picture of a cold, powerful assassin sect, devoid of emotion and unnervingly rational.

That was precisely why the Building of No Benevolence had endured for thousands of years, watching coldly as one arrogant assassin organization after another rose and fell.

They also knew the ranks of assassins: Red, Orange, Yellow, Green, Azure, Blue, and Violet. The ranks weren't based on the assassins' own cultivation, but on the level of their targets. Red Tier Assassins could kill Half-step Outer Scenery experts. Orange and Yellow Tier Assassins could kill the weaker and stronger among first-rate experts. Green and Azure Tiers were similar, corresponding to the weaker and stronger Peak Experts.

As for Grandmasters, every one of them was